Rangeland Ecoregions

Tags  Environment, Rangeland, Ecosites, Ecoregions, Ecosystems, Soil, Grassland, Dry, Mixed, Moist, Aspen Parkland, Cypress, Upland, Fescue, Prairie

Summary

The map of rangeland ecoregions coincides with the rangeland ecosites, which are based on a seamless digital soil coverage of southern Saskatchewan, provided by the Land Resource Unit of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Because the focus of the ecosite classification was on native grassland, the range ecoregion map was trimmed to the area of the Prairie Ecozone.

The rangeland ecoregions have had a few modifications from the standard ecoregions. For details, refer to:
Thorpe, J. 2007. Saskatchewan Rangeland Ecosystems, Publication 1:  Ecoregions, Ecosites and Communities. Saskatchewan Research Council Publication No. 11881-1E07.

Description

Further resources can be found on the Prairie Conservation Action Plan's (PCAP) website at: https://www.pcap-sk.org/for-land-managers/resources, including information on communities of each ecosite type.
The map of range ecoregions was developed by Jeff Thorpe and Nick Nicolichuk of Saskatchewan Research Council, under a project of the Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan with major funding support from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Greencover Canada Program. Extensive assistance in developing the map was provided by Alvin Anderson of the Land Resource Unit, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. In a second phase of the project, with major funding support from Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment, the ecosite map was slightly revised. The overall project, including the classification of range ecosites, is documented in the following publication:
Thorpe, J. 2014. Saskatchewan Rangeland Ecosystems, Publication 1: Ecoregions and Ecosites, Version 2. Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan. Saskatchewan Research Council Pub. No. 11881-1E14.
The map is based on a seamless digital soil coverage of southern Saskatchewan, provided by the Land Resource Unit of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The map projection is UTM Zone 13, and the datum has been converted to NAD83. The soil map shows polygons which are linked to a database showing soil map unit, slope class, surface texture, and other properties. The original soil map extended into the forest fringe of central Saskatchewan. Because the focus of the ecosite classification was on native grassland, the range ecosite map was trimmed to the area of the Prairie Ecozone.
To develop the range ecosite map, a database of soil series provided by the Land Resource Unit was used to determine the closest equivalent range ecosite, by interpretation of properties such as mode of deposition, parent material texture, gleying, salinity, and erosion. The resulting translation of soil series to ecosites is given in the following publication:
Thorpe, J. 2014. Saskatchewan Rangeland Ecosystems, Publication 2: Soil Series Table, Version 2. Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan. Saskatchewan Research Council Pub. No. 11881-2E14.
Each soil map unit has a dominant soil series, and the range ecosite corresponding to that series was assigned to the map unit. Ecosite assignments were then modified using other attributes of the mapped areas, including surface texture and slope class. The resulting translation of soil map units to range ecosites is given in the following publication:
Thorpe, J. 2014. Saskatchewan Rangeland Ecosystems, Publication 3: Map Unit Table, Version 2. Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan. Saskatchewan Research Council Pub. No. 11881-3E14.

Credits

Saskatchewan Research Council

Use limitations

The Range Ecoregion Map shows the general pattern of ecoregions across southern Saskatchewan. However, the underlying soil maps are intended to be used at a scale of 1:100,000, and are too generalized for mapping at finer scales. For mapping a small area (e.g. a ranch map at 1:10,000) the Range Ecoregion Map can be used for a “first draft”. However, the map should then be refined by field observations or interpretation of air photos. 

Extent

Scale Range